Andrea Ghigiarelli & Sara Andracchio did well. Is this their first professional competition?

What happened to Beneditto and Claudia the german couple?

Here is the pro-rising star latin.

Yegor Novikov & Yana Blinova (aka Petkova) USA

Alexander Tchesnokov & Julia Tchesnokov Russia

Ivan Mulyavka & Loreta Kriksukaityte USA

Nathan Meyers & Meagan Alderton Australia

Shi Lei & Zhang Yu Bai China

Markku Hyvarinen & Disa Kortelainen Finland

My coach back in melbourne, got 4th!

But they didn't get far in the pro-latin. Is there really that much difference between pro and pro-rising star?

Rising star is for pros that have not yet won a major competition. The level is usually considerably lower than the pro ranks - think of it as a sort of pro pre-champ! Often pros stop doing it before they actually win a major because they see it as holding them back by being associated with beginners.